70 years ago today......

My dear old dad took me to watch United for the first time. We beat Stoke City 3-0 in the old First Division and I was hooked. The following season, we were relegated and it’s been a roller coaster ride ever since.
Through the lows - the even lowers - and the (very) occasional highs - my addiction has never wavered.
I can’t imagine life without United - and I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Thanks Dad!

Congratulations Ronnie and also to your Dad for setting you on the right road like my Dad did.

I can’t remember who the first game that I went to was against, but we stood in front of the cricket pavilion and I seemed to spend the whole game sitting on my Dad’s shoulders trying to figure out what was happening in the distance.

With that in, mind I can’t have been very old so it must have been over sixty years ago that I went to my first game, but it was a few years later when I started going regularly, the 63/64 season and I took my regular place stood next to the railings on John Street near the player’s entrance. The team then was in the top division then and we always seemed to score plenty of goals. The usual team was...
Hodgy
Coldwell
Shaw G
Richardson
Shaw J
Summers
Alchurch
Kettleborough
Pace
Wagstaff T
Simpson

I suppose Cel Coldwell and Joe Shaw would have been in the team you watched as well mate as they were coming to the end of their careers by then? It’s funny how I can still name that team, but I’d be hard pushed to name that many players, let alone teams in the past few years until Wilder came and gave me my mojo back.

To smell of pipe and cigar smoke still whisks me back to those happy days. UTB.

I bet when you started going you thought in the next 70 years you'd see them win something.

I did indeed. Never the league - but always hoped one day that we’d win the F.A. Cup. Several semi-finals in that time, only to be disappointed. Now, I no longer believe we will - but..............stranger things have happened..............so you never know.

I did indeed. Never the league - but always hoped one day that we’d win the F.A. Cup. Several semi-finals in that time, only to be disappointed. Now, I no longer believe we will - but..............stranger things have happened..............so you never know.

Never the league Ron?? I certainly did if the likes of Burnley, Wolves and Ipswich could.

I suppose Cel Coldwell and Joe Shaw would have been in the team you watched as well mate as they were coming to the end of their careers by then? It’s funny how I can still name that team, but I’d be hard pushed to name that many players, let alone teams in the past few years until Wilder came and gave me my mojo back.

To smell of pipe and cigar smoke still whisks me back to those happy days. UTB.

Fred White, Fred Furniss, Albert Cox, Ernest Jackson, Dick Young, Harold Brook, Dennis Thompson, Albert Nightingale, Colin Collindridge (scored 2), Cliff Whitelum, George Jones (scored 1). (Whatever happened to proper football names like Fred and Albert?)
Hagan was injured at the time.
Although Joe Shaw was signed from Upton Colliery in 1945, his first league game for us was late August 1948 against Liverpool. Originally a wing half, he didn’t switch to centre half on a more or less permanent basis until early in the 1954/55 season. As you know, he wasn’t really built to be a CH, but his reading of the game was so superb that he got away with it. Made 632 appearances for us.
Cec joined us from Norton Woodseats in the Summer of1951, but only made 1 appearance that season (a 1-0 win at Southampton) and didn’t really establish himself in the first team until late in 1953. Eventually, played 478 games. Both great servants. I didn’t know Joe, but Cec was a truly lovely man.

Excellent thread, I always think back to the first game at BDTBL and how things could have been so different, a sort of "sliding doors" moment even.

I lived a couple of miles away from Hillsborough so my old Dad used to say he would take me to watch Wednesday but due to my Mothers side who were all Blades I insisted on going to the Lane,

Bearing in mind there weren't many people who had a car back then it was a tall order to get from Parson Cross to BDTBL on a bus but anyway my Dad took me to The Blades v Derby County in the 67-68 season back in Div 2.

We won 2-1 i think and I stood in the bottom right hand corner of the Kop which was a few years later converted to the EDS Pen.

I was hooked then obviously but things could have been so different I suppose.

first game for me charlton 1959 stood on the lane end think we won 2 0 or 2 1 first time on the kop april 1961 against ipswich and we lost 3 1 but went up with them in 2nd me dad took a little fold up chair and i stood on that lol remember being a bit scary getting crushed against wall right up shoreham st to get in turnstyle on john st and it took us ages to get in used to love the lane under the floodlights magical as a boy

first game for me charlton 1959 stood on the lane end think we won 2 0 or 2 1 first time on the kop april 1961 against ipswich and we lost 3 1 but went up with them in 2nd me dad took a little fold up chair and i stood on that lol remember being a bit scary getting crushed against wall right up shoreham st to get in turnstyle on john st and it took us ages to get in used to love the lane under the floodlights magical as a boy

Actually January 23rd 1960 OB. 2-0 Doc Pace scored both. You should have gone the previous season v Charlton. 5-0 with Doc getting 4 of them.
The Ipswich game you refer to was March 1961and yes, it was 1-3. Apart from being a month out in both cases, you’ve got an extremely good memory - certainly much better than mine! (It must be my misspent youth to blame). I have to refer to written records for all the dates.

Courtesy of my Uncle,who treat Dad and me to tickets in the new Bramall Lane stand,mine was February 1968 we beat Spurs 3-2,somebody scored twice,but can't remember much about him.

I'm sure we got relegated at the end of the season,but by then I was smitten.

You knew how to pick em for your debut game ya glory seeker!

We’d replaced the brilliant Mick Jones with the not so Brilliant Mick Hill by then although he did score the winner against the Dirties with a towering header. Also, our other blonde bombshell striker Sherman Birchenall has also been flogged off, and even though his replacement (here’s to you) Colin Addison was a very good player, he was more a number ten than a striker for me hence we were relegated.

The following season we signed John Tudor, one of the best and hardest headers of the ball ever to wear a Blades shirt. Harris tried TC as an out and out striker for a while and moved Addison (who by then seemed to constantly be wearing a pot on his wrist) further back. Also a special mention David (Enoch) Powel, a classy Weish international central defender who’s career was cut short far too soon by injury.

One thing that I have realised looking back is that it took a few years for that team to gel. Most of the players that got us promoted in 72 were there in that first season back in the second division.. Maybe a lesson to us all who expect players to settle and teams to gel in weeks?

We’d replaced the brilliant Mick Jones with the not so Brilliant Mick Hill by then although he did score the winner against the Dirties with a towering header. Also, our other blonde bombshell striker Sherman Birchenall has also been flogged off, and even though his replacement (here’s to you) Colin Addison was a very good player, he was more a number ten than a striker for me hence we were relegated.

The following season we signed John Tudor, one of the best and hardest headers of the ball ever to wear a Blades shirt. Harris tried TC as an out and out striker for a while and moved Addison (who by then seemed to constantly be wearing a pot on his wrist) further back. Also a special mention David (Enoch) Powel, a classy Weish international central defender who’s career was cut short far too soon by injury.

One thing that I have realised looking back is that it took a few years for that team to gel. Most of the players that got us promoted in 72 were there in that first season back in the second division.. Maybe a lesson to us all who expect players to settle and teams to gel in weeks?

Happy daze, glad you were hooked pal.

1971 we were promoted wasn't it?,wonderful year,as well as our magnificent side it also produced the best song ever,MAGGIE MAY,if ya aint heard ya should try it,more than 5minutes of iconic music.Ronaldo how come you 35 years ols before ya started goin to BDBL?UTCB

that fulham game was the one that did for us night match i think and we were 2 up and lost 3 2 and we really should have beaten chelsea on that last day we had enough chances

Yes, Fulham (who were adrift at the bottom of the league) was a Tuesday night and we “threw it away”. Also, we led against Chelsea at h-t, but lost 2-1. We lost our last three home games and were relegated by 1 point! It was almost as though the players wanted to be relegated. Of course, the sale earlier in the season of Jones and Birchenall hadn’t helped.
Birchy tried his level best to not win that last game for Chelsea, but we were so bad we still managed to lose it.

1971 we were promoted wasn't it?,wonderful year,as well as our magnificent side it also produced the best song ever,MAGGIE MAY,if ya aint heard ya should try it,more than 5minutes of iconic music.Ronaldo how come you 35 years ols before ya started goin to BDBL?UTCB

Aye Rod, it was 71 mate sorry. You get my drift though, most of that promotion team was in place by the season before. No doubt in my mind that Sir Trevor Hockey coming was the biggest catalyst for the change in that team, along with Billy Dearden who we signed from lowly Chester at the back end of the previous season. Trev allowed TC to play his game and Billy would always be available for the through pass. The only other newcomer was Johnny Hope who I think replaced Hodgy during that season, not at the start.

that fulham game was the one that did for us night match i think and we were 2 up and lost 3 2 and we really should have beaten chelsea on that last day we had enough chances

Fulham have often come up with a odd shock at the Lane just like this season. I recall us being topof the league on another occasion and we played them when they were rock bottom and without an away win. They beat us 1-0 with their only shot of the Game. We absolutely mullered them but had a couple disallowed and missed a pen. I’m not sure what season that was but we fell away after that. I think it might have been in the ‘Dad’s Army’ season when we had a team full of old uns.